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Kyle Busch has signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing and as part of the deal, Busch will drive JGR's Nationwide Series car. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

It wasn't exactly breaking news Thursday when team owner Joe Gibbs announced that Kyle Busch had signed an extension to drive the No. 18 Toyota in Sprint Cup for several more years. Word recently surfaced that Busch had signed in December, but nothing would be announced until this week's Sprint/Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour.

That happened early in Thursday's program at Joe Gibbs Racing near Charlotte, N.C. No frills and no details, just basic confirmation that Busch will be around for several more years with teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.

“The good news is that we've signed Kyle to a multi-year deal,” Gibbs said. “The bad news is that now we work for him and we're broke. [Son] J.D. and I will start working the night shift down at the corner store.”

Moments later came some semi-big news: Busch will run not only the full 36-race Sprint Cup schedule, but also the majority of JGR's planned 25 Nationwide Series and nine Camping World Truck Series races for his own team. That's a change from 2012 when he ran all 36 Cup races for JGR, and 22 Nationwide races and three Truck Series races for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“Joe wanted me back in his Nationwide car,” Busch said, citing that as one reason he spurned other offers before re-signing with JGR. “When Parker Kligerman went to Nationwide for KBM, it made sense for me to stay here in Cup and also to drive their Nationwide car. All the engines [for Cup, Nationwide and the Truck Series] will come from right here.”

Gibbs didn't say who'll run the Nationwide races that Busch will miss. It's expected that Kenseth, Hamlin, Drew Herring, Darrell Wallace and Michael McDowell will share that ride and a fourth Nationwide car. Former champion Brian Vickers and series veteran Elliott Sadler will be JGR's two full-time Nationwide drivers.

Busch said his decision to stay at JGR -- he's been there since 2008 -- came down to relationships. “There were some lucrative deals, some other good opportunities,” he said. “But I have relationships here with the team and with Toyota and with [sponsor] M&M. Everybody treats me so well here. You never say never and you never say no, but of all the options, this was the best for me. We had a tough year last year [two poles, one win, missed the Chase], but there is positive growth here, and I want to be part of it.

“I'm sure I took a couple of years off Joe's life [by weighing his options so long], but it was a tough decision. I talked to a lot of people about where to go and what to look for before I realized I couldn't draw it out for eight or nine or 10 or 11 more months. It finally got to be D-Day, when I had to make a decision. And it all came down to the relationships that I have here.”

Gibbs is excited that Busch will run more support races this year. It's generally agreed that Busch is happiest in a race car, no matter the series. “He absolutely loves it, to be racing a car or truck,” the former NFL coach said. “He's good at racing, and he'll be better by running all three series. But he's really got to manage things and not get so frustrated. We have a good schedule for him. . . . All the Nationwide and Truck Series races are on Cup companion weekends. Doing that would drive me crazy, but he thrives on it.”

Team president J.D. Gibbs said that Busch has few interests outside racing, so running several races on consecutive days is no burden. And he doesn't think Busch had a poor '12 in Cup because he drove fewer support races and spent time worrying about fielding his own team. “The thing is, he enjoys racing so much,” the younger Gibbs said. “And if you enjoy something, you'll probably do better at it. If you enjoy something that's taken away from you, it's hard to deal with. I think getting back with our Nationwide team for 25 races will help him on Sundays.”

Cup crew chief Dave Rodgers is anxious to have the “old” Busch back. “I don't think there's a true, honest, known answer to the question of whether we'd have done better in Cup if he'd run more with us last year,” he said. “We led the most laps in Cup in '11, but only 19 fewer laps last year. We had almost as many top-five finishes and more top-10s last year than the year before. We had more top-fives and more top-10s last year than in 2010 and 2009. A lot of stats show that our car went fast; we just didn't execute flag to flag.

“We had mechanical problems, and I made some bad pit calls. Things happened on the track that got us, and running more Nationwide races would have fixed those mechanical problems and bad pit calls. Speculation that racing a Gibbs-prepared Nationwide car will help the Cup program is just wild speculation. But what I can say is this: It'll make Kyle Busch happier because that kid loves to drive a race car. Letting him run 25 Nationwide races in our car will make him more upbeat and more chipper and more excited. And that will bleed over into his Cup performance.

“We're looking forward to the old 'Rowdy' Busch being back in our race cars this year.”